Monday, August 5, 2013

You can't fix stupid

Some friends and I have a favorite saying: you can’t fix stupid.

It’s not very PC. It’s not very polite. But dang if it isn’t the truth. Some people Just. Don't. Get. It.

SueAnn and I were training at the Amana Park last week. We had jumps and ring gates set up and were enjoying a pleasant summer evening. An older woman drove her car right up to where we were training and rolled down her window. She had a schnauzer on her lap. SueAnn went to talk to her. The woman said she wanted to let her dog run, were our dogs friendly?

SueAnn told her we were training our dogs and asked that she please not turn her dog loose here. The woman drove away . . .

. . . about 50 yards and turned her dog loose. It was a yappy little thing and of course it ran straight at Disco and Phoenix.

SueAnn yelled, “Call your dog! You need to get your dog on a leash.”

The woman started calling the dog, which ignored her. Imagine that. She was puffing on a cigarette and could barely walk. The dog kept coming closer and closer, yapping and posturing like only small dogs can.

Woman said, “I just had a hip replacement, I can’t walk very fast.”

Which begs the question, what are you doing out here, on rough ground, without a walker or cane? Why not walk in town, where there are nice smooth sidewalks?

Woman said, “Don’t worry about him. He just wants to play.”

Seriously? Is this scripted or what? How many times have I heard that? And why do people who say that never notice that the other dogs involved do NOT want to play?

Phoenix was snarling in a sit. Even Disco, who is usually 70 pounds of good tempered boxer, was not amused. The schnauzer continued being a yapping idiot. Woman was very, very, very slowly walking toward us, puffing on the cig the whole time and yelling at the dog.

Finally, SueAnn grabbed the dog and held it with one hand and Disco with the other. Woman finally got there and put the leash on the dog. Of course it was a Flexi.

The woman turned to walk away, the dog zipped out to the end of the line, pulled her off balance and she FELL OVER!

I figured she probably just broke her OTHER hip and was having visions of calling 911 and there goes our training session, not mention one of us is going to have to take care of that damned dog until we can find a family member or neighbor to take it.

Woman yelled, “I’m okay, I’m okay!” (Really? I don’t think so.) We put our dogs up and went to help her. She didn’t want any help. She said she could get up by herself. She couldn’t.

SueAnn held the fiercely yapping schnauzer. I helped the woman get up. She got the dog, got back in her car and drove away.

Did I mention she never dropped her cigarette?

I am pretty sure this is the same woman I had encountered previously while training at the park earlier in the year. She and a friend drove up with little dogs on their laps and asked if my dog was friendly.

Um. Yeah. He is VERY friendly to people but he is NOT friendly to other dogs.

9 comments:

OMG, I hate that question: "are your dogs friendly?" I mean that is the stupidest question in the world. YES my dogs are friendly. But I still don't want your dog or YOU in my face. So get lost. I basically say "yes they're friendly but no I don't want them socializing with other dogs now." I absolutely HATE that question because it puts your dog in some sort of vilified category of "unfriendly" or worse "dangerous." Way to go Phoenix!

My pet peeve!!! Drives me absolutely bonkers. Sophie is leash reactive and I hate having an off leash dog approach and be told "he is friendly" thats fantastic but my dog doesn't appreciate an off leash dog running at her. So frustrating!

Lynn, nice comment. I just ask people what would they do if I would run to them while they are enjoying their walk in the park, jump on them from behind and start hugging them. I don't know if it gets the point across, but the expression on their face makes it totally worth it:-)I also carry a walking stick when I take my dogs out to fence off the nasty ankle biters that our neighborhood is full of.

"yeah, he's friendly" was the response I heard. I had my canaan dog on leash and a big black hairy dog was off leash and looking at my dog in a way that felt wrong. But, hey, maybe I was wrong. (Last time I did not listen to that little voice in my head). Then the big hairy dog lunges and starts attacking my dog, who had been sitting at heel position looking at ME because I had been working for years for him to do that. He started trying to flee, but was hampered by the lead. I was screaming at the moan, who finally managed to call her dog off. And she stated is was "natural" and "just their way of settling dominance positions." From then on I was extremely pro-active, even when it meant screaming and throwing things at the two off-leash rotties trying to tag-team my dog. And from that day forward, I was ready to drop his lead in a heartbeat -- so he could run or attack, and never again be a victim.

And do not even get me started on all the idiots who think having their 100 pound dog "play" with my 8-pound papillons is a good idea. And all the people who think I am being weird or insane as I manage my one pap, who has a tendency to stare at and approach other dogs in a way I disapprove.

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